By Michael C. Juliano, STAFF WRITER

Published 8:48 pm, Tuesday, January 12, 2010

DANBURY -- Eastcoast Music Mall apparently has played its last tune after three decades of selling equipment to musicians.

The store, at 15 Starr Road and owned by Barry Lipman of Brookfield, on Tuesday had its interior lights turned off, the door locked and a sign on the door read, "CLOSED. Thank you for your past business. If you have any unfinished business, please e-mail us."

coastmusic.com as its e-mail address for sales and equipment repair, adds that Lipman is still in business "repairing and building instruments, and selling violins, violas and cellos" and that he is "located in Brookfield 6 minutes from here." His e-mail address ends the note on the door.

A voicemail message at the store's phone number states "The Eastcoast Music Mall is no longer in business" and repeats most of the same information on the sign.

The store's Web site does not say that the business closed, but the numerals "1977-2009" appear on the home page under the words "30 Continuous Years of Expertise and Personal Service to Musicians."

Posters and flyers were visible on the wall near the door but the store's interior was too dark Tuesday to determine whether it still had an inventory of equipment.

E-mail messages requesting information on the store's closing sent to Lipman's e-mail address and e-mail addresses found on the Web site for sales, services and lessons were not returned.

Ed Roman, who launched the store on Hayestown Road in Danbury, in 1991 sold most of the business to his employees Lipman, Larry Corrow and Morgan Pettinateau, who opened satellite stores in Hartford, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Boston, but closed them after financial difficulties set in, Roman said.

They bought the balance of the business from Roman in 1995 and then in 2004 passed up an offer to buy the Hayestown Road location from him before relocating to New Milford, then Brookfield, and finally opening the store on Starr Road, Roman said.

"That was their fatal mistake, because it cost them a fortune to move to New Milford and Brookfield and then back to Danbury," said Roman, who has owned Ed Roman Guitars in Las Vegas since 2001.

Roman said Lipman, Corrow and Pettinateau faltered further by trying to sell the same inventory as the chain musical instrument stores, such as publicly traded Guitar Center Inc. instead of focusing more on rare guitars.

"They struggled all the time because they never brought the right inventory in," Roman said.

Eastcoast Music Mall is housed in a large commercial building owned by Starr Road Realty LLC of Hyde Park, N.Y. N&S Supply, a heating and plumbing supply store, occupies the building's remaining space.

There were rumors circulating before the holidays that the store might close its doors, said Al Burgasser, a New Milford guitarist and frequent patron for the past 15 years.

"The impression I got is when they left the facility on Hayestown Road, they never got the business built back up again," said Burgasser, who bought 10 of his 12 guitars from Eastcoast Music and senses that business may have been impacted by competition from large online guitar sellers. "I think the biggest loss will be their guitar service facility. It was probably the best in the area."

Eastcoast Music Mall's closing is a surprise, said Vinny Serafino, a sales representative for N&S Supply.

"They didn't tell us anything," he said. Serafino said he remembers the music store moving in next door a few months after N&S Supply opened in August 2005 and noticed that it had closed a week ago.

"I knew just from the sign on the door," he said. "It's amazing because everyone's asking. . . . Sad, too, because they were good people over there."